Georgia Southern senior David Richardson, from Dahlonega, was named the athletic department’s Male Athlete of Year at the Georgia Southern Student-Athlete awards banquet Monday in Statesboro.

Richardson, a 2004 Lumpkin County High graduate, is batting .382 this season and currently has a 14-game hitting streak for the Eagles (28-20). He added his latest game to the streak with a hit against Mercer on Monday as part of a 6-4 loss.

One of his season highlights includes hitting for the cycle in a 15-9 win against College of Charleston on March 28.

Richardson was recently named All-American by the National Strength and Conditioning Association for his dedication to strength training and conditioning. He was also named student-athlete of the week on April 30, and currently has a 3.9 grade point average while majoring in exercise science.

He first made a splash in the Eagles program as a sophomore, when he started in 25 games. That season he had home runs against Georgia Tech, North Florida, and scored the winning run against Michigan. Against the Yellow Jackets, he recorded a season-high four hits.

As a sophomore, he also recorded two hit games against Marshall, Coppin State, The Citadel and Western Carolina.

As a junior, he made five starts, and secured a win against North Florida with an outfield assist. Last season, he matched his career high three RBIs to go with three runs scored in a win against New Jersey Tech. Richardson was often used as a defensive replacement as a junior.

As a freshman, he started 19 of 35 games for Georgia Southern. He hit .291 with 17 runs and 12 RBIs.

In high school, Richardson played baseball and football for the Indians, earning four varsity letters. He was named All-Region selection in baseball 2002, 2003 and 2004 and was a three-time All-Area pick in football and was a class AA All-State selection in 2003.

Georgia Southern plays host to UNC-Greensboro at 7 p.m. Friday.